Before starting the official conversation with Slovenian President Borut Pahor at Brdo, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out the issue of sanctions and a massive decease of economic cooperation with the EU. "Unfortunately, there’s been a drop in our commodity exchange, up to as much as 45 per cent," emphasized Putin.

"Commodity exchange between Russia and the U.S. amounts to 28 billion dollars while the exchange between Russia and EU had stood at 400 billion euros before dropping by nearly a half, to 224 billion euros. These numbers are not comparable, but neither one nor the other is good," he added.

In a short address, Pahor touched upon the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis. He recalled the presidents’ meeting five years ago at the same place - both still in the function of the prime minister -, where they expressed optimism about the future in terms of bilateral relations as well as shared perspectives regarding security, economy and other areas.

"Five years later, we can say that the economic crisis indeed did come to an end, but was replaced by other crises. Slovenia, as a member of NATO and the EU, and Russia have drifted slightly apart on the other hand. My wish is to remove the reasons for this by working hard and succeeding in a peaceful manner, through dialogue, as the lack of it had been why the countries found themselves at a crossroads. It seems the freedom-loving world needs cooperation from all who can play a role in solving the bigger problems," argued Pahor.

In his speech by the Russian Chapel, Putin rendered thanks to Slovenia and Slovenians for keeping the memory of Russian soldiers alive. According to his words, the monument at the Žale cemetery reflects "our shared position on the inadmissibility of distorting the history and making excuses for crimes that have caused the death of millions of people" during the Second World War.

G. V., T. K. B., Sa. J., MMC; translated by K. Z